RepairTech Picks AmTrust As New Underwriter

By Alan Wolf -- TWICE, 6/2/2008

Iselin, N.J. — RepairTech, the 10-year-old extended-service contract administrator and provider, has selected AmTrust Financial Services as it new insurance underwriter.

AmTrust is a multinational specialty, property and casualty insurer with assets in excess of $2 billion and a rating of “excellent” by A.M. Best. The company also operates its own extended-service contract administrator and provider, AMT Service Corp.

“To better serve our [retail] clientele and the consumer, we determined that AmTrust provided both the financial strength and the integrity that would make them the perfect insurance company for the RepairTech extended-service contract,” said president Joseph Saieda. “For the dealer, the bottom line is marketing and selling efforts can now be taken to the next step while the consumer is assured the covered product is protected by a financial base with sufficient reserves for any eventuality.”

Saieda noted that some unsophisticated resellers are tempted to take a short-sighted approach toward extended-service contracts and only consider cost when making a buying decision. But purchasing uninsured and unregistered extended-service contracts from companies offering low prices translates to very little value for the consumer, he argued. Contracts such as these invite regulatory agency investigation and cast a shadow over the entire extended-warranty industry, he said.

Saieda added that in the case of RepairTech, both the dealer and consumer know his firm is assuming the “exclusive liability” of paying the cost of repairing and replacing each of the products covered by their service contracts.